Disney’s Hannukah Treets

Posted on December 17, 2022 at 12:58 pm

8 Disney Hanukkah Specials to Stream This Holiday Season

The holiday season is here… and while there is no shortage of holly, jolly films and shows to stream on Disney+, we thought we’d highlight some of the Hanukkah specials that are also available right now! Whether you’re getting ready for a winter-break streaming marathon or just looking for something to watch to learn more about the holiday itself, we’ve listed eight things to watch—one for each night of Hanukkah.

1. The Ghost and Molly McGee – “Festival of Lights” (Season 1, Episode 10)

In this adventure, the entire McGee family and Scratch the ghost visit Libby Stein-Torres and her family for the final night of Hanukkah. When a sudden blackout occurs across the town of Brighton, Libby’s mom boots up their bookstore’s generator, but she only has enough gas for one hour. Inexplicably, the generator keeps running for eight hour—during which Libby and her family teach the McGee’s, and later the entire town (who come gather at the bookstore for warmth)—about their Hanukkah traditions!

2. “Puppy for Hanukkah”

In 2020, Hamilton star Daveed Diggs partnered with Disney to create a new Hanukkah anthem — “Puppy for Hanukkah.” Written by Diggs, William Hutson, and Jonathan Snipes, “Puppy for Hanukkah” tells the story of a little Jewish boy wishing for a puppy each night of Hanukkah before finally receiving one on the last night of the holiday. The song also explains some of his Hanukkah traditions, with Diggs reciting a Hanukkah blessing in Hebrew mid-rap. You can enjoy this Hanukkah bop by streaming the adorable music video for “Puppy for Hanukkah” on Disney+!

3. Firebuds – “Hanukkah Hullabaloo” (Season 1, Episode 13)

One of Disney Channel’s newest holiday specials is this episode of Firebuds, where Bo wonders why his mother doesn’t put up Hanukkah decorations like his father does for Christmas. To share how special Hanukkah is with his community, Bo goes overboard with decorations for Hanukkah, including a gigantic dreidel balloon that flies off in the wind and causes mild destruction across town. In the end, Bo learns that Hanukkah is special for reasons other than flashing lights and balloons—and that people choose different ways to celebrate the holidays.

4. Even Stevens – “Heck of a Hanukkah” (Season 1, Episode 15)

In this episode of the Disney Channel classic Even Stevens, troublemaker Louis Stevens can’t wait to open presents and searches for the Hanukkah gifts his parents have hidden somewhere in the house. When he ultimately finds them and ruins the family gift exchange for everyone, he ends up grounded for the entirety of Hanukkah. In an homage to 1946’s It’s a Wonderful Life, the ghost of Louis’ great-great-great-great-grandmother, Bubbe Rose, appears to show him what his family would be like if he had never been born.

5. Full Court Miracle

Based on the true story of the University of Virginia Cavaliers basketball star Lamont Carr, this 2003 Disney Channel Original Movie follows a Jewish basketball team in Philadelphia who need a new coach. Set during Hanukkah, this group of high school athletes find college student Lamont Carr and convince him to be their basketball coach. When the power goes out during the team’s final championship game, they make an agreement with their opponents that whoever has the most points when the generator runs out will win. In a true Hanukkah twist, the generator goes out and our heroes are losing, but the power miraculously comes back on and allows them to score the winning basket.

6. Puppy Dog Pals – “Latke Kerfuffle” (Season 1, Episode 20)

In this episode of Disney Junior’s Puppy Dog Pals, Bingo and Rolly go on a mission to help their owner, Bob, make latkes for their neighbor Chloe’s Hanukkah party! While on the hunt for eggs and potatoes, the pups sing a song about the “festival of lights” and how delicious latkes are. Bob makes enough latkes for everyone at Chloe’s party and Bingo and Rolly even get to attend, participating in the lighting of the Chanukiah when they spot the first star in the night sky.

7. Pepper Ann – “A Kosher Christmas” (Season 3, Episode 11)

Pepper Ann is another Disney character who celebrates both Hanukkah and Christmas, and in this holiday episode she mistakenly believes that her parents want her to choose only one holiday to celebrate. She begins to make a list of what she loves most about each holiday to help her decide. In the end, she tells her parents that she loves Hanukkah and Christmas, and that choosing between them would be like choosing between her parents themselves! Of course, it was all a misunderstanding, and her parents were never asking her to choose between the two holidays. Together with her family, Pepper Ann has a great holiday season celebrating both Hanukkah and Christmas.

8. Elena of Avalor – “Festival of Lights” (Season 3, Episode 18)

When Princess Rebecca of Galonia and her grandmother shipwreck on the shores of Avalor, it is up to Elena and her family to give them the best Hanukkah celebration possible! Rebecca and her family teach Elena all about Hanukkah, as well as some and Yiddish words like “nosh” (to have a snack) and “mitzvah” (a good deed). When Rebecca gets caught up in making their Hanukkah party absolutely perfect, it’s her bubbe (grandmother) who reminds her that Hanukkah is about carrying on even through the toughest challenges and making the most of what you have.

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Avatar: The Way of Water

Avatar: The Way of Water

Posted on December 14, 2022 at 5:46 pm

B +
Lowest Recommended Age: High School
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence and intense action, partial nudity and some strong language
Profanity: Some strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs: None
Violence/ Scariness: Extended, intense, sometimes graphic peril and violence, characters injured, sad death of a family member
Diversity Issues: A metaphorical theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters: December 16, 2022
Date Released to DVD: June 19, 2023

Copyright 2022 20th Century
Although writer/director James Cameron has made some of the most innovative and financially successful movies of all time, including “Terminator,” “Titanic,” and the original “Avatar,” he has said that his real passion is oceans and joked that his movie career is to fund his explorations of the world under water. He brought those two passions together with his “Deepsea Challenge 3D” documentary about his expedition to the deepest part of the ocean. And in “Avatar: The Way of Water,” this sequel to 2009’s box-office champion “Avatar,” he brings them together again, with much of the story taking place under the clear, sparkling water of Pandora.

Time has passed since the end of the first film. Onetime human soldier Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is living blissfully with Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), among the “forest people,” in an Edenic environment of gentle peace with their community and with the land. They have four children, two older boys, a little girl, and an adopted daughter, Kiri, daughter of Dr. Grace Augustine. voiced by Sigourney Weaver, who played Dr. Grace Augustine in the first film. Kiri is the late Dr. Augustine’s daughter. No one knows who her father was. A human boy nicknamed Spider (Jack Champion) is almost another family member, though he must wear a mask on Pandora in order to breathe. Spider’s father was Miles Quaritch, the first film’s human villain, played by Stephen Lang.

Miles is back, now as an avatar, too. The human “sky people” are no longer seeking just Pandora’s precious ore. They now represent the most popular category of movie bad guy in 2022: colonists. He is charged by his commanding officer (Edie Falco) to conquer the natives, and he vows to kill his former fellow soldier, Jake Sully.

As with the first film, the Pandora natives are portrayed as idyllic indigenous people and the humans, with the exception of the kindly lab staff, are mostly brutish and greedy. Their invaders have machine guns and explosives and no compunctions about using children as bait. The Pandorans have spears and arrows. And pure hearts. Cameron is not known for subtlety or depth of character. There’s a reason his most famous character is a cyborg whose breakthrough film had him utter just 17 lines of dialogue. This movie would have been better with less talking, too.

But Cameron is known for spectacular visuals, and “Avatar: The Way of Water” delivers that and then some. When the Sullys leave their home with the forest people and seek asylum with the teal-skinned water people (reminiscent of the recent “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”), much of the story moves on and in the ocean and Cameron’s endless love for that environment is evident in every breathtakingly gorgeous detail, thrillingly immersive in IMAX 3D with Dolby sound. The undersea creatures are spectacularly beautiful and the underwater movements are graceful and balletic or intensely suspenseful as the story demands. Kiri, who loves her family but has always felt something of an outsider, finds her home in the water so believably we begin to feel that way, too. The building blocks of the storyline may be very basic, but the environments where they take place are glorious.

By the end of the movie, the Pandorans no longer seem like giant super-models, with their elongated, slender bodies. They seem like the normal ones and the humans seem tiny and awkward.

The story is just a scaffolding for the world-building. That may make it more of an experience than a movie, but the experience is a fun place to visit.

Parents should know that this film has extended and intense peril and violence. A young character is killed. There are graphic images including a severed arm, dead bodies, and impaled combatants. Characters use some strong language and the costumes are skimpy. There are mild sexual references including questions of paternity.

Family discussion: What circumstances today present the same issues that the Sullys and the water-based Metkayina clan have to consider — protecting their group or caring for those in need, wanting to be peaceful when faced with violence? Does your family have a motto? How are the two Sully brothers different and why?

If you like this, try: “Avatar,” and get ready for three more sequels!

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Critics Choice Announces Nominations: Everything Everywhere and the Fabelmans Lead

Critics Choice Announces Nominations: Everything Everywhere and the Fabelmans Lead

Posted on December 14, 2022 at 1:15 pm

I’m a very proud voting member of the Critics Choice organization (formerly the Broadcast Film Critics Association), and the quality of these nominations recognizing the best, most creative, most meaningful, and most significant films of 2022 is a fitting tribute to the hard work of the filmmakers. Be sure to join us as we announce the winners with all the stars in the room, hosted by Chelsea Handler, broadcast LIVE on The CW from the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles on Sunday, January 15, 2023 (7:00 – 10:00 pm ET, delayed PT – check local listings).

Copyright 2022 Universal

BEST PICTURE
Avatar: The Way of Water
Babylon
The Banshees of Inisherin
Elvis
Everything Everywhere All at Once
The Fabelmans
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
RRR
Tár
Top Gun: Maverick
Women Talking

BEST ACTOR
Austin Butler – Elvis
Tom Cruise – Top Gun: Maverick
Colin Farrell – The Banshees of Inisherin
Brendan Fraser – The Whale
Paul Mescal – Aftersun
Bill Nighy – Living

Copyright 2022 Focus

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett – Tár
Viola Davis – The Woman King
Danielle Deadwyler – Till
Margot Robbie – Babylon
Michelle Williams – The Fabelmans
Michelle Yeoh – Everything Everywhere All at Once

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Paul Dano – The Fabelmans
Brendan Gleeson – The Banshees of Inisherin
Judd Hirsch – The Fabelmans
Barry Keoghan – The Banshees of Inisherin
Ke Huy Quan – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Brian Tyree Henry – Causeway

Copyright Netflix 2022

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Angela Bassett – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Jessie Buckley – Women Talking
Kerry Condon – The Banshees of Inisherin
Jamie Lee Curtis – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Stephanie Hsu – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Janelle Monáe – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Frankie Corio – Aftersun
Jalyn Hall – Till
Gabriel LaBelle – The Fabelmans
Bella Ramsey – Catherine Called Birdy
Banks Repeta – Armageddon Time
Sadie Sink – The Whale

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
The Banshees of Inisherin
Everything Everywhere All at Once
The Fabelmans
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
The Woman King
Women Talking

BEST DIRECTOR
James Cameron – Avatar: The Way of Water
Damien Chazelle – Babylon
Todd Field – Tár
Baz Luhrmann – Elvis
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Martin McDonagh – The Banshees of Inisherin
Sarah Polley – Women Talking
Gina Prince-Bythewood – The Woman King
S. S. Rajamouli – RRR
Steven Spielberg – The Fabelmans

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Todd Field – Tár
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Martin McDonagh – The Banshees of Inisherin
Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner – The Fabelmans
Charlotte Wells – Aftersun

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Samuel D. Hunter – The Whale
Kazuo Ishiguro – Living
Rian Johnson – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Rebecca Lenkiewicz – She Said
Sarah Polley – Women Talking

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Russell Carpenter – Avatar: The Way of Water
Roger Deakins – Empire of Light
Florian Hoffmeister – Tár
Janusz Kaminski – The Fabelmans
Claudio Miranda – Top Gun: Maverick
Linus Sandgren – Babylon

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Hannah Beachler, Lisa K. Sessions – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Rick Carter, Karen O’Hara – The Fabelmans
Dylan Cole, Ben Procter, Vanessa Cole – Avatar: The Way of Water
Jason Kisvarday, Kelsi Ephraim – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy, Bev Dunn – Elvis
Florencia Martin, Anthony Carlino – Babylon

BEST EDITING
Tom Cross – Babylon
Eddie Hamilton – Top Gun: Maverick
Stephen Rivkin, David Brenner, John Refoua, James Cameron – Avatar: The Way of Water
Paul Rogers – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Matt Villa, Jonathan Redmond – Elvis
Monika Willi – Tár

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Ruth E. Carter – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Jenny Eagan – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Shirley Kurata – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Catherine Martin – Elvis
Gersha Phillips – The Woman King
Mary Zophres – Babylon

BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP
Babylon
The Batman
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Elvis
Everything Everywhere All at Once
The Whale

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Avatar: The Way of Water
The Batman
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Everything Everywhere All at Once
RRR
Top Gun: Maverick

BEST COMEDY
The Banshees of Inisherin
Bros
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Triangle of Sadness
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Copyright A24 2022
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Turning Red
Wendell & Wild

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
All Quiet on the Western Front
Argentina, 1985
Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths
Close
Decision to Leave
RRR

BEST SONG
Carolina – Where the Crawdads Sing
Ciao Papa – Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Hold My Hand – Top Gun: Maverick
Lift Me Up – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Naatu Naatu – RRR
New Body Rhumba – White Noise

BEST SCORE
Alexandre Desplat – Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Michael Giacchino – The Batman
Hildur Guðnadóttir – Tár
Hildur Guðnadóttir – Women Talking
Justin Hurwitz – Babylon
John Williams – The Fabelmans

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Awards
More Christmas Movies You Might Have Missed

More Christmas Movies You Might Have Missed

Posted on December 14, 2022 at 8:11 am

Copyright Netflix 2019
By all means, watch the classics! One of the sweetest family traditions is sharing favorites like “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “White Christmas,” “A Christmas Story,” “Elf,” “Home Alone,” and my favorite, “A Christmas Carol” (I watch the MCM, Alistair Sim, and Mr. Magoo versions every year, usually the Muppets version, too.) And then there are the TV classics like “A Charlie Brown’s Christmas,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” and “The Year Without a Santa Claus.”

I’ve already posted lists of lesser-known but wonderful Christmas movies. And yes, “Die Hard” is definitely a Christmas movie. Case closed.

But there should always be room for something new, and I love these:

Jingle Jangle (Netflix)

“Colorful” is not a colorful enough word to describe a fantasy movie musical so maximalist that even the title is overstuffed. The many pleasures of this overflowing Christmas stocking of a film are sure to make it a family favorite, and most likely a family tradition. Originally conceived as a musical play, it retains the liveliness of an in-person production. The exceptionally talented and appealing and nearly all-Black cast, including Phylicia Rashad, Forest Whitaker, and Keegan-Michael Key give the film a fresh perspective. The snowball scene is one of my favorites.

Klaus

This is a Santa Claus origin story, based on the books by Grant Morrison. A spoiled, selfish young man is sent to a remote village to act as postman, not to return until he has delivered 6000 letters. Striking animation, top voice talent, and a charming interpretation of the way many of our favorite traditions began make this a gem.

Dear Santa” (streaming now on Peacock and other services)

I love this documentary about the wonderful volunteers and USPS “elves” who answer kids’ letters to Santa. Schoolchildren and adults, including former beneficiaries of the program work around the clock. You won’t find a better example of giving being better than receiving than this charming and heartwarming film.

Holiday Rush (Netflix)

Romany Malco plays Rush, a popular DJ and a single dad of four. When he loses his job just before Christmas, his family has to leave their comfortable home and move back in to his old neighborhood with his aunt, played by the magnificent Darlene Love. This is a warm-hearted story about love and families and what really matters.

The Man Who Invented Christmas

Fans of this site know that “A Christmas Carol” is my favorite holiday story. This is the story of how that book came to be written, with Dan Stevens just perfect as the brilliant but harried Charles Dickens. The book, one of the most popular of all time, really did change the way people saw Christmas, with more focus on helping others, and this story of love, reconciliation, and the power of storytelling is a treasure.

And, okay, yes, they aren’t classics and they don’t make much sense or vary much from the formula, but I like Hallmark Christmas movies, and the ones on other services, too. Some of my favorites are:

“Write Before Christmas”

A recently dumped young woman sends five Hallmark greeting cards to people who have been important to her and they change the lives of the recipients and hers, too).

“The Christmas House”

The Hallmark Channel’s first movie with a gay couple — the brother of the main character and his husband — is more layered and sympathetic than the more high-profile “Happiest Season.” In this story of parents famous for their Christmas decorations insisting both of their sons come home to help.

“The Mistletoe Promise” A woman who owns a travel company with her ex-husband meets a man who is as reluctant to celebrate Christmas as she is. They join forces to support each other through the gauntlet of office-based holiday events.

“The Princess Switch”

A Chicago baker and a European princess who happen to look identical, both charmingly played by Vanessa Hudgens, pull a switch and each finds love. The sequel adds a third look-alike!

“The Mistletoe Promise”

A travel agent and a lawyer have different reasons for dreading Christmas, so make a pact to be each other’s plus one through the holidays.

Oh, and coal in the stocking of everyone connected with “Holidate!”

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Holidays Movie Mom’s Top Picks for Families
Living

Living

Posted on December 13, 2022 at 10:39 am

A-
Lowest Recommended Age: High School
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for smoking and some suggestive material
Profanity: Mild language
Alcohol/ Drugs: Drinking and drunkenness, smoking
Violence/ Scariness: Terminal illness
Diversity Issues: None
Date Released to Theaters: January 7, 2023
Date Released to DVD: April 11, 2023

Copyright 2022 Sony
An 1886 novella by Leo Tolstoy inspired Japanese director Akira Kurosawa to create one of the most acclaimed films of all time, “Ikiru,” in 1952. And now those two core works have inspired an extraordinarily wise and touching British film starring Bill Nighy called “Living,” with a screenplay by Nobel Prize-winner Kazuo Ishiguro. What has drawn all of these artist together is that most profound of existential questions, literally the meaning of life. And like the two earlier works, “Living” is superb in every detail.

The story is set in post-WWII London. Mr. Williams (Nighy), a supervisor in a government office, overseeing a group of mostly white men (one woman, one Indian-British) who sit around tables piled high with file folders and documents. The production design by Helen Scott and cinematography by Jamie Ramsay are impeccable. We follower newcomer Peter Wakeling (Alex Sharp) as he begins to learn the way the office works. His colleagues board the commuter train together. “This time of morning, not too much fun and laughter. Rather like church,” he is cautioned by one of his new co-workers after he ventures some mild self-deprecating humor. All conversation is highly professional, quiet, understated, and exquisitely polite.

A group of local women trying to get a permit to turn a small area that was bombed in the Blitz turned into a playground keep coming to Mr. Williams’ department. And every other department in the building, because each one tells them it is someone else’s responsibility. For Mr. Williams, his job is about moving paper, not helping people.

After he gets the bad news from his doctor, Mr. Williams practices telling the son and daughter-in-law who live with him that he only has a few months to live. His emotional vocabulary is so shrunken, so limited, the only word he can think of to describe the situation is, “bore.”

He cannot bring himself to tell them, even or especially after he hears them talking about how they want to move out and live on their own. And then, Mr. Williams, the most methodical and reliable of men, does not go to his office. He finds his way to the seaside and strikes up a conversation in a bar with a bon vivant writer (Tom Burke), one of only two people he will tell about his diagnosis. The writer suggests spending his last months having fun, and they spend a raucous evening together, but that is not what Mr. Williams needs.

The second person he tells is a former co-worker, who spends some time with him, and it is her example that helps lead him to an understanding of what he needs to make the final time meaningful.

Nighy, always superb, has never been better. He is able to show us emotions that Mr. Williams does not even understand he is experiencing. Every moment of this film is exquisite, a poetic elegy to reveal not only Mr. Williams’ purpose but our own.

Parents should know that this movie deals with a terminal illness. There is some mild language, drinking, and drunkenness.

Family discussion: What do you and the people around you to do find meaning? Will the people in Mr. Williams’ office keep their pledge? Why didn’t he tell his son what was going on?

If you like this, try: “The Browning Version” (1951 version) and “Last Holiday” (1950 version), two British films from the era depicted in this film with related themes, and “Ikuru” and “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” as well.

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